Next Steps Following The Capital One Data Breach

Next Steps Following The Capital One Data Breach

You may have heard about a recent development regarding a massive data breach involving the personal data of over 100 million Capital One customers. A disgruntled former employee of the company is responsible for hacking the servers and releasing 80,000 bank account numbers, 140,000 US Social Security numbers and 1 million Canadian Social Insurance numbers. This breach is one of the largest in history. If you are a Capital One customer, you may find yourself in a state of panic. We are here to provide you with next steps following the Capital One data breach.

What To Do If You May Be A Victim

Stay calm. If you are concerned about the safety of your information, this is a natural reaction. It is important that you try and keep your cool until you know whether your information was leaked. All victims of the data breach will be contacted directly, according to Capital One. You should wait for confirmation from the company directly.

Check your financial accounts. In order to find any potentially fraudulent activity as quickly as possible, you need to keep an eye on your financial accounts. Check your credit card and bank statements daily. The faster you can detect fraudulent activity, the easier it will be to resolve. If you find suspicious activity, many credit card companies will allow you to freeze your card so that no other purchases can be made.

Sign up with an identity theft restoration service. In the event that your identity is stolen, you may be in for hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars in funds in order to restore your identity. This can be an extreme burden and cause enormous amounts of stress. If you are a member of an identity theft restoration service prior to having your identity stolen, all of this work will be done for you. A company like ReclaimMyID will restore your identity to 100% of its pre-theft status. For a small, yearly fee, you can save yourself time, money and give yourself peace of mind.

Freeze your credit. If you detect suspicious activity, one of the more extreme measures you can take is to freeze your credit. You can freeze your credit online or by calling any of the three major credit bureaus. Freezing your credit will ensure that no one can access your credit reports without prior authorization from you. Therefore, if someone tries to open a line of credit in your name, they will be stopped dead in their tracks. Freezing your credit will make it slightly more difficult for you to open lines of credit for yourself. However, it will prevent any criminals from doing it without your permission.

Knowing that your information could be in nefarious hands can be a terrifying thought. However, if you follow these next steps following the Capital One data breach, you will find any suspicious activity much faster. This is one of the most important factors in quickly resolving an identity theft event.